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Abstract: This essay addresses the status of the Belgian Civil Code in the twenty-first century. If the French revision process should have a successful outcome, Belgium will be one of the last countries to use a nineteenth century code. Does Belgium also need a revision of its Civil Code, or are there suitable alternatives? If a revision is advisable, a more fundamental question arises: How can a revised Belgian Civil Code cope with the stratification of private law and the multiple challenges every European legal system faces today? The first part of this essay briefly elucidates the challenges for the Belgian Civil Code. The second part looks for suitable responses, including (but not limited to) a possible revision of the aforementioned code. The third part will argue that a modernization of the Belgian Civil Code is essential to restore its central position in private law. Since two of the key advantages of codes are their durability and their comprehensive scope, a modern Belgian Civil Code's content should be limited to concepts, basic principles, and general rules. Any attempt to offer an overview of private law in its entirety in a single civil code can only be detrimental to those two key advantages. Because of the limited powers of a national legislature, the further development of the law can only result from collaboration between many different actors. An unremitting emphasis on the facts underlying hard legal questions and on the legal discourse is a necessary element of such a collaborative contribution.

Abstract: Contract law has been the object of harmonization projects on the European level for decades. The most recent project is what is usually referred to as the 'Optional Instrument', which led to the Proposal of the European Commission for a regulation on a 'Common European Sales Law'. This contribution concerns the way remedies were dealt with in this Proposal and in its preparatory documents. The authors critically assess whether or not the attempts at European harmonization succeeded in achieving a coherent and clear system by pointing out the scope of application, the structure, the available remedies, the integration of modern rules allowing flexibility and the absence of a clear-cut hierarchy of remedies. Résumé: Le droit des contrats a fait l'objet de projets d'harmonisation au niveau européen depuis des décennies. Le projet le plus récent est ce qui est généralement désigné comme 'l'Instrument Optionnel', dont la dernière manifestation est la Proposition de de Commission Européenne concernant un Règlement relatif à un 'droit commun européen de la vente'. Cette contribution concerne le traitement des remèdes dans cette proposition, ainsi que dans ses documents préparatoires. Les auteurs évaluent si oui ou non cette tentative d'harmonisation européenne a réussi à réaliser un système cohérent et clair, en examinant le champ d'application, la structure, les recours disponibles, l'intégration des règles modernes permettant de la flexibilité et l'absence d'une hiérarchie claire des recours. Zusammenfassung: Seit Jahrzehnten ist das Vertragsrecht auf europäischer Ebene Gegenstand von Harmonisierungsprojekten. Das nunmehr jüngste Projekt wird allgemein unter dem Begriff des 'Optionalen Instruments' diskutiert #. Der vorliegende Beitrag befasst sich mit der Art und Weise wie Rechtsbehelfe in den das Optionale Instrument vorbereitenden Dokumenten behandelt wurden. Der Autor setzt sich kritisch damit auseinander, ob die Versuche einer europäischen Harmonisierung insoweit zu einem kohärenten und eindeutigen System führten oder nicht. In seinen Ausführungen bezieht sich der Autor auf den Anwendungsbereich, die Struktur, die zur Verfügung stehenden Rechtsbehelfe, die Einbeziehung von Flexibilität ermöglichenden modernen Regeln und das Fehlen einer klar abgrenzbaren Hierarchie der Rechtsbehelfe.

Legal ignorance typically refers to a situation where one is ignorant of the existence of a certain legal prescript or is ignorant of the precise understanding of a prescript or its consequences.
In Belgian law, there is no general provision dealing with legal ignorance or its effects. In principle, one cannot escape the application of law based on the mere fact that one does not know the law or its consequences. However, in specific situations Belgian law and case law deviate from this basic principle, provided that strict conditions are fulfilled.
The authors of this article report on the application of the concept of legal ignorance in the areas of contract law, tort law and prescription.
As for contract law, the article examines whether a mistake as to the law may qualify as an excusable error leading to the nullification of a contract. Although the Cour de Cassation applies a very strict interpretation and states that mere legal ignorance cannot be an excusable error, some lower courts seem to apply a more lenient interpretation. In tort law, the starting point remains that mere legal ignorance is not excusable. To escape liability despite the infringement of a specific rule, one will have to overcome the difficult task of proving that the mistake was 'unavoidable'. Lastly, the general provision for prescription periods does not deal explicitly with the issue of legal ignorance. In principle it is not necessary that the person subject to prescription is aware of the fact that the prescription started to run. In specific situations, some statues and case law deviate from this principle.